The WCHA Blog will touch on all aspects of Division I NCAA Men's Ice Hockey, but as the name suggests, this blog will primarily focus on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which is home to 10 teams that have combined to win a total of 36 national championships since its inception in 1951.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Season Preview - Part I: Conference Schedules

Over the next several weeks, the WCHA Blog will take a look at the upcoming season via its multi-part season preview. This preview will be comprised of various things, including team previews, schedule breakdowns, key losses from last season, and much more.

Today’s entry will break down each team’s conference schedule.

As most fans are aware, each WCHA team plays a total of 28 conference games during the regular season, with 14 games coming at home and another 14 on the road. Because of this, each team in the league plays seven of the nine other teams at home for two games and travels to seven of the nine schools each year for a pair of games. Thus, there are two teams that each WCHA team will only play on the road each year, and there are another two teams that each team will only play at home each year.

NOTE: This season, Minnesota, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State have arranged their schedules so that when any two of those three teams play, the series will be a home-and-home. If they would have stuck to the standard schedule, Minnesota, as an example, would have played two games at home versus St. Cloud State (and none in St. Cloud) and two games at Minnesota State (with no games against the Mavericks in Minneapolis).

Here is a breakdown of how things work out for each WCHA team for the upcoming season:

Alaska Anchorage

Only at Home: Michigan Tech and WisconsinOnly on the Road: Minnesota Duluth and North Dakota

Colorado College

Only at Home: Minnesota and Minnesota StateOnly on the Road: Michigan Tech and North Dakota

Denver

Only at Home: Minnesota Duluth and WisconsinOnly on the Road: Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State

Michigan Tech

Only at Home: Colorado College and DenverOnly on the Road: Alaska Anchorage and Minnesota

Minnesota

Only at Home: Michigan TechOnly on the Road: Colorado College

Minnesota Duluth

Only at Home: Alaska Anchorage and St. Cloud StateOnly on the Road: Denver and Wisconsin

Minnesota State

Only at Home: North DakotaOnly on the Road: Colorado College

North Dakota

Only at Home: Alaska Anchorage and Colorado CollegeOnly on the Road: Minnesota State and Wisconsin

St. Cloud State

Only at Home: DenverOnly on the Road: Minnesota Duluth

Wisconsin

Only at Home: Minnesota Duluth and North DakotaOnly on the Road: Alaska Anchorage and Denver